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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Address By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew To The Circle Of Students Of Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) At The Opening Of The Conference On “Benedict XVI And Orthodoxy”

Your Eminence,

Esteemed members of the Study Group dedicated to the theology of Pope Benedict XVI,

We welcome you with great joy to the City of Constantine during this
radiant period of the Lord’s resurrection. You have come to the Sacred
See of the Holy and Great Church of Christ in order to deliberate on the
theology of Pope Benedict XVI, the “theologian pope,” whose profound
and prolific theological scholarship clearly proves that ecclesiastical
ministry – even at the highest church offices – can coincide with a
creative commitment to theological study.

Theology is the articulation and interpretation of the life of the
Church in conversation with the signs of the times. This is why theology
has always been the axis of action and thought for Pope Benedict; this
is why all of his choices and decisions were based on theological
criteria; and this is why he always took a stand against theological
minimalism. In his opinion, nothing constructive can develop in the
Church without proper theological foundation.

Pope Benedict was an admirer and student of patristic theology and
spirituality. He did not regard the Church Fathers as monuments of the
past, but as an essential dimension of life and of the Church’s
identity. He was inspired by the charismatic and mutual coinherence and
enrichment of church ministry and theology in the Christian witness of
the Fathers.

Dear participants, you are concerned with the work of an
ecclesiastical man, who has deeply influenced the evolution and shaped
the face of contemporary Catholicism. He was professor of systematic
theology in Bonn, Münster, Tübingen, and Regensburg; he was Archbishop
of Munich and Freising; Cardinal and President, since 1981, of the
Congregatio Fidei; coworker, advisor and successor of the recently
canonized Pope John Paul II, and the first pope of the twenty-first
century. Benedict XVI proved faithful to the tradition of the Church and
of theological witness before the existential pursuits and challenges
of our time.

The entire journey of Pope Benedict is characterized by stability and
unwavering devotion to the fundamental ecclesiological principles and
by complete dedication to the Church. As he declared in one of his
interviews, faith in God and ministry in the Church of Christ were his
life’s compass from the outset. Indeed, when asked whether his
theological development was directed toward conservatism, he observed:
“I cannot deny that there has been evolution and change in my life, but I
insist that these are included within the context of a stable identity.
It is precisely by changing that I endeavored to remain faithful to
that which was always the basic concern of my life.”

We share common challenges with Pope Benedict; and our opinions
coincide on many contemporary problems. For instance, we agree on the
subject of the identity of European civilization – of its present and
future. Both of us are convinced that it is impossible to conceive and
assess European civilization without reference to its Christian roots.
The fundamental values, morality, education, art, science, economy,
social and political structure of Europeans are linked to Christianity,
even if much of this was achieved or imposed, sometimes in conflict with
the Church.

With regard to the situation of modern Europe, we believe that the
route toward comprehensive secularization, which is advocated by
representatives of the “modern fundamentalism,” has been definitively
interrupted inasmuch as today we speak of “post-secular” societies,
which have embraced the presence and public role of religions. At any
rate, the notion of an absolutely secularized society was entirely
foreign and inconceivable for other civilizations, which are no longer
too distant from us but in fact comprise part of the multicultural
European societies. On the other hand, of course, the ongoing explosion
of religious fundamentalism provides welcome arguments to those who
either doubt or deny religion today and who continue to identify the
negative expressions of the religious phenomenon with its essence.

On the ecumenical movement, Pope Benedict gave particular emphasis to
the theological dialogue of Roman Catholicism with the Orthodox Church.
He promoted this dialogue as well as bilateral contacts with individual
Orthodox Churches but especially with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. We
shall never forget the visit of Pope Benedict to the Phanar in November,
2006, which decisively contributed to the advancement and enlargement
of relations between our two Churches. At the same time, we too visited
Rome on two occasions at the official invitation of Pope Benedict.
During our second visit, we spoke in the Capella Sixtina on the subject
of “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church” before the
Synod of Catholic Bishops.

Pope Benedict, who – it should be noted – established close
relationships of confidence and friendship with many Orthodox hierarchs,
believed, just as we too believe, that a spirit of mutual trust and
sincerity should prevail in the dialogue among the Churches, which
should also wholeheartedly respect fundamental theological and
ecclesiological criteria. The evolution and success of dialogue are
associated with the faithfulness of each side to the particularity of
its respective tradition as well as with their mutual openness. We
believe that the “dialogue of truth” is not a search for the truth or a
journey toward truth, but rather a dialogue “in Truth.” And this saving
Truth is Christ Himself, the “head of the Church” and “savior of the
Body.” (Eph. 5.23)

Dear scholars of Joseph Ratzinger’s theology,

The message that emerges from the impressive ecclesiastical and
theological work of Pope Benedict is the creative coexistence of the
offering of the Church and the study of theology. It is the truth that
respect for tradition does not render the Church un-worldly, while
openness to the world does not imply secularization. Authentic theology
springs from this dual reference to the tradition of the Church and its
dialogue with the world.

We especially greet the fact that, among the scholars of Pope
Benedict’s theology, there are also Orthodox academics, something that
we are certain also delights the Pope himself.

Even as we experience the foretaste of our imminent encounter in
Jerusalem with Pope Benedict’s successor to the throne of Rome, Pope
Francis, fifty years after the fraternal embrace of Pope Paul VI and
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy City, we wish you every
success and fruitful deliberations.

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